Epidemiological Survey on Self-Medication among Patients of the Dental Consultation and Treatment Center, Casablanca, Morocco

Self-medication, often defined as the use of non-prescription medications to treat minor ailments or self-diagnosed symptoms, has become a common practice worldwide. This approach to healthcare is widely adopted due to various factors, including the ease of access to over-the-counter medications, reduced costs compared to medical consultations, and the perception of increased control over one’s own health. However, while self-medication may offer benefits in terms of convenience and time savings, it also carries potential risks such as diagnostic errors, harmful drug interactions, and delays in appropriate management of underlying conditions. This introduction explores the various aspects of self-medication, including its motivations, practices, implications for public health, as well as measures to promote responsible and safe self-medication. When we tackle this problem, it naturally prompts a discussion on additional underlying social issues such as poverty, lack of education, challenges in healthcare accessibility, availability of medical insurance, and the significant economic strain. To achieve this, it seemed opportune for us to conduct a descriptive cross-sectional study on the subject of self-medication in order to speak, with concrete data, about everything that has been mentioned previously, and also to elucidate the levers on which action must be taken to stem the problem and reduce the resulting harm.